Table 2: Residents’ ratings of confidence in their abilities to identify symptoms of ASD, connect families to ASD-related services, and the importance of ASD education to their careers.

 

Career Plans

 

Primary Care

(n = 14)

Subspecialty

(n = 27)

Undetermined

(n = 9)

All

(n = 50)

Confidence in distinguishing between ASD and other delays a

1.86 (.66)

2.30 (.47)

2.11 (.78)

2.14 (.61)

Confidence in connecting families to a

 

 

 

 

     School-based services

1.93 (.73)

2.22 (.80)

2.22 (.67)

2.14 (.76)

     Early intervention services

2.79 (.89)

2.93 (.68)

2.78 (.83)

2.86 (.76)

     Behavioral support services (Applied Behavior Analysis)

1.71 (.73)

1.93 (.83)

1.56 (.53)

1.80 (.76)

     Services to address mental health concerns

2.57 (1.16)

2.56 (.93)

2.56 (.88)

2.56 (.97)

     Speech/language therapy

3.00 (.96)

3.11 (.89)

2.78 (.97)

3.02 (.92)

Importance of education about ASD to career b

3.57 (.85)

2.26 (.60)

3.00 (.87)

2.76 (.92)

Note. Data are presented as mean values (SD). There was a significant effect for future career plans (primary vs. subspecialty) on perceived importance of education about ASD; t (39) = 5.77, p < 0.001.

a1 = Not confident at all, 4 = Very confident    b1 = Not important, 4 = Very important